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Sunday, 4 February 2018

As the last Shangri-La on earth Bhutan is absolutely mystic and so are some of Bhutan's folklore and practices. We came to know of a very interesting story of Migoi, a Tibetan term for the Yeti.

Although there is no proof to confirm that this mythical creature exists, people living in remote North Bhutan believe that the Migoi does exist! So Bhutan has a very unusual sanctuary dedicated to Migoi's and the sanctuary is known as 'Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary'. There are many folklores and urban legends around these mythical creatures among the local Bhutanese people.Locals say that there have been many sightings of Migoi in this region. Migoi is known for its phenomenal strength,superfast agility, magical powers such as the ability to become invisible and knowing how to walk backwards to fool any trackers. The luxuriant deciduous forests of Sakteng are believed to be the home of these creatures.

Photo courtesy- internet

Sighting of Migoi is also said to bring bad luck. Once two people went hunting and one of them could see the Migoi with his eyes while the other could not. The person who saw died soon after within a few days.

There is one more story regarding the sightings of Migoi that can bring bad luck. A group of hunters were surprised when all their traps failed to trap any meat one day.To understand what could have possibly gone wrong, they started looking around. Soon they found footprints of a Migoi.

One of the hunters in the group was very strong and courageous.He followed the tracks,encountered the animal and killed it. However no one in his village was ready to believe that he had actually killed a giant Migoi. However they soon found the remains of two Migoi covered in blood on the track that the hunter told them. However bad omen fell on the hunter since he had seen a Migoi. He proud hunter died soon after.

However Yeti or no Yeti, the 'Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary' is highly rich is bio diversity. The sanctuary becomes red with thick carpets of rhododendrons.Snow leopards, red pandas, Himalayan black bear, barking deer and Himalayan red fox can be found here. Variety of birds such as the hoary-bellied Himalayan squirrel, Assamese macaw, blood pheasant, grey backed shrike, grey-headed woodpecker, common hoopoe, rufous-vented tit and dark breasted rosefinch are also commonly found. Besides the conifers, plant life and flora of Sakteng wildlife sanctuary includes rare blue poppies, Bhutan’s national flowers. Wild Primulas and gentiana change the sanctuary into a color riot in spring. A very rare mushroom called cordyceps which have medicinal values are also found in this region.

There is also a Bhutanese stamp depicting a Migoi which is definitely a collector's item.

Saturday, 3 February 2018

Arguably the most beautiful dzong in entite Bhutan is the Punakha Dzong also known as Pungtang Dechen Photrang Dzong. This dzong is located strategically at the confluence of two rivers, the Pho Chhu (father) and the Mo Chhu (mother) rivers. Punakha Dzong was also the administrative capital of Bhutan till 1955 after which the capital was shifted to Thimpu.

There is a very beautiful and interesting story related to how the conception of this dzong came into place. Guru Rinpoche who is also considered as the 'Second Buddha' is the most revered figure in Bhutan. He was a brahmin royal and is said to have born in a lotus flower and hence also called Padmasambhava. He bought Buddhism in Bhutan and have also believed to have arrived at the Tiger's Nest monastery on the back of a flying tiger.

He blessed the land where the dzong stands today and predicted that one day a very beautiful fortress would come up on that land. One day as he was staying in Punakha for a camp he got a prophetic dream. In his dream he got the instruction to create a dzong at Punakha and secretly keep the sacred 'Avalokiteśvara' statue that he bought with him from Tibet. The Avalokiteśvara statue is a powerful bodhisattva which embodies the compassion of all Buddhas.

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara/Guanyin occupies a unique place in the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon. Buddhist sutras speak of several bodhisattvas but it is Avalokitesvara/Guanyin who is revered and adored by followers of both Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism and by all art lovers. He/she has acquired a status equal to the Buddha and sometimes his importance surpasses even the Buddha's.

The Tibetans were long in search of this statue after Guru Rinpoche bought it with him from Tibet. Angered they attacked the Punakha Monastery but was defeated by the Bhutanese people. This victory celebration happens every year during the 'Sacred Victory Festival'. This is how the conception and creation of the beautiful Punakha Dzong is described in folklore.

Who wants to have paintings of huge, colourful phallus on the walls of their house? Not many people I suppose. However this little village that falls on the way from Thimpu to Punakha has every house with at least one elaborate phallus painting on its walls. There must be some very strong reasons which holds even up to this day. Intrigued we got to know the folklore from the locals.

The popular Bhutanese saint Drukpa Kunley, an unorthodox and eccentric saint who migrated from Tibet and settled in Bhutan was extremely fond of women and wine. He tried to preach Buddhism to the common people through worldly and unorthodox days. He believed that to be a good follower of Buddhism one does not need to be celibate to give up all pleasures.

According to folklores, there was once an extremely evil demoness who lived near Dochula Pass. She used to kill and torture people in the disguise of a dog. Angered by this saint Drukpa Kunley defeated the demoness with his ‘organ’ weapon who fled the region. From then onwards symbols of an erect penis in Bhutan have been intended to drive away the evil eye and malicious gossip.

A monastery is dedicated to Drukpa Kunley or the ‘Divine Madman’ at Chimi Lhakhang is extremely popular with the locals and tourists. Visitors are blessed with a wooden phallus. It is also believed that childless couples who gets blessings from Chimi Lhakhang soon gets blessed with child.

Tuesday, 16 January 2018

The climb to Tiger's Nest Monastery also known as Paro Taktsang was a life time experience. It was definitely tough going but when we got to see the monastery from close distance it was fascinating. Equally fascinating is the story of its creation. The monastery sits on the edge of a hill at 3120 meters above sea level, the path to which is difficult and narrow and it makes everyone wonder how this monastery was created so many years ago and why its called Tiger's Nest when there are no tigers around.

Well as per the legends, it was Guru Rinpoche who meditated at this sacred site. Guru Rinpoche is also referred to as Guru Padmasambava since it is believed that he was born in a lotus flower. He was a brahmin royal who spread tantric Buddhism in Bhutan. He is also referred to as the 'Second Buddha' and is highly revered in Bhutan.

Guru Padmasambava arrived in Paro Taktsang on a tiger's back from Tibet in the eighth century and bought Buddhism to Bhutan. He meditated at Paro Taktsang and hence the monastery is also known as Tiger's Nest. He meditated here for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours. He also conquered and banished the local demons of the area who were killing people.

Today devotees and tourists need to trek 4.5 km uphill to reach the sacred monastery where Guru Rinpoche had once meditated.

Saturday, 13 January 2018

"This is Bhutan's National Animal", Yeshley told us as we spotted a few takins roaming and eating grass in Takin Reserve, on the outskirts of Bhutan. Our nod made him instantly understand that we have already done our research back home and know that Takin is the national animal of Bhutan.

Like any good travel guide, he also started telling us more about takins and their habitat. Takins are very rare and can be found in secluded forests in Bhutan, Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh, India.

The best information he gave us was related to the folklore associated with Takin. According to the story, once a very rich man of Bhutan invited all monks and religious saints to a feast. There came some very famous monks and heads. Also came the divine madman Drukpa Kunley. Nobody knew Drukpa Kunley and his magical powers. Everyone thought him to be a commoner. To this he was a little angry and told people to treat him like a monk.

So people asked him to perform a miracle. He said that he would oblige only if he is given a goat and a cow to eat. He ate both in no time leaving only the head of the goat and the skeleton of the cow. He then took both the goat's head and the cow's skeleton, put them together and to everyone's surprise an animal got formed and came to life in front of their eyes. It ran and started feeding in the meadows nearby.

That was how the Takin came on earth. Its a rare animal and was a delight for us to see in Bhutan.

Monday, 11 December 2017

I woke up around 7 in the morning. Ankur had woke before me and had packed all our stuffs neatly. He had also ordered for tea. Today we were in no mood to get up fast to get ready. The morning was melancholy. Today we have to leave Bhutan, the country about which we loved everything and have got a hangover by now.

We were supposed to return back the day before had we not extended our stay permit for one more day. We had booked our coster bus tickets the day before from the Thimpu bus terminus. Costers are small buses and unlike Indian state buses they are way comfortable. Since standing is not allowed so they do not take more passengers than the number of seats available. So in order not to miss the bus in case it gets filled we had our tickets booked the day before.

By the time we reached the bus terminus at around 8, our bus was already there. The helper was cleaning the bus and making it ready for the day's journey. After he finished we handed over our luggage to him. We were given the best seats, the first row just behind the driver's seat. Ankur got down and bought some more snacks and tea. By this time all the seats got filled up. The bus helper tied all the passenger luggage and put them on the top of the bus and secured them with a rope.

bus terminus

Getting ready

Bus started exactly at 8:15 am, the scheduled time. We started our journey back to Phuentshoing. The hilly roads was covered with fog and the air was crisp and cool. A very few roadside vegetable shops had opened. Women are mostly the ones who run the shops. Little children going to school in groups waved us and we waved them back. Some stretches of the road were fully white because of the wild roses blooming profusely during this time of the year. In many of our other road journeys in Bhutan we have witnessed this phenomenon before as well.

After almost 3 hours our bus stopped at a small restaurant. There are very few restaurants on the way and this one was one of those. It is actually a modified front of the owners house where the owner has converted one room into a sitting area and a small part of it into a kitchen.

Morning market

Misty mornings

We soon came across a check point where non Bhutanese were asked to show their permit at the check post. We showed our's and the official put a seal on the immigration paper. The seal denotes that the immigration paper is no more valid.

The remaining part of the journey was nothing eventful. The bus reached Phuentshoing bus terminus. Our luggage was untied from the top and given to us. We took a cab from there that took us till Bhutan gate. We submitted our immigration papers at a small office near the gate. Once we crossed the gate we were so excited and thankful. Excited because we are back to India and thankful to Bhutan for the amazing hospitality that we will never forget.

From Bhutan gate we took another jeep. Our trip is still not over. We will stay at Jaldapara Forest Reserve for a day before heading back to Bangalore. I will write about the amazing Jaldapara trip in a separate blog post.

Sunday, 16 July 2017

While planning the trip to Punakha , I was constantly in confrontation with a doubt...whether to allot a night stay at Punakha or make it a day trip from Thimpu. After doing a lot of reading and analysis on the distance and weather I finally decided that we will keep Punakha as a day trip from Thimpu. Also the temperature in Punakha is much more than that of Thimpu or Paro, so in June it does not make much sense to spend a day. Maybe during the winter months the scenario would have been different.

Distance from Thimpu to Punakha is not much, around 90 km. We started early as usual to avoid the touristy crowd. The road goes via Dochulla Pass. 'La' means a mountain pass and Dochula is situated at an elevation of 3100 metres above sea level on the Thimpu Punakha Road. The pass is also famous for the Druk Wangyal Chortens or the 108 stupas arranged in 3 layers on a hillock at the pass. On a clear morning, the entire Bhutan Himalayan range can be seen from here but most of the time the weather remains foggy and cold.We also could not see the Bhutan Himalayan range at the time of going or coming back because of the fog.

Dochulla Pass

Dochulla Pass

Dochulla Pass

Dochulla Pass

Dochulla Pass

Opposite to the Druk Wangyal Chortens is the Druk Wangyal Lhakhang which is a temple built as a memorial to commemorate the Bhutanese causalities in the Assamese militant conflict. The interior of the temple has modern paintings related to modern Bhutanese culture such as airplanes, monk with laptop etc.

Druk Wangyal Lhakhang

From the road we saw the small Chimi Lhakhang village famous for the Chimi Lhakhang monastery and also for the houses which have elaborate and decorative paintings of phallus on the walls. Our driver Ugyen told us that we will come to the Monastery later on our way back.

We reached Punakha Dzong, the most beautiful dzong in Bhutan. It is situated at the confluence of the Pho Chhu (father) and Mo Chhu (mother) rivers in the Punakha–Wangdue valley. The source of the Mo chu river is in the northern hills of Lighsi and Laya in Bhutan and the Po Chu River is glacier fed. After both the rivers join at Punakha, they form the main river known as Puna TsangChu and flows through Wangdue Phodrang, crosses the Bhutan–India border at Kalikhola and eventually meets the Brahmaputra River in India.

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

The Punakha Dzong is one of the most photographed dzong in the world for its beauty. We saw beautiful and vibrant jacaranda and bougainvillea blooms all around the dzong. We had to cross a small wooden bridge over the Mo Chu river to enter the dzong. From the bridge,we saw a group of tourists doing water rafting in the Mo Chu river.. They waved at us and we waved them back.

The dzong was the administrative capital of Bhutan till 1955 after which the capital was shifted to Thimpu. However the dzong still holds its glory. Now it is the administrative capital of Punakha district and the second largest dzong in Bhutan.

We had to climb a small wooden staircase to enter the dzong. The security personnel did a customary bag check and allowed us to get in. The architecture inside is very very beautiful with wooden staircases, railings, floors and wall paintings. There are two levels of courtyards. Administrative offices are in the first courtyard while monks hostels are on the second courtyard. There is also a very old Bodhi tree in the centre. The dzong also houses a big temple.

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Punakha Dzong

Inside Punakha Dzong

Inside Punakha Dzong

Inside Punakha Dzong

Inside Punakha Dzong

The next place of interest was the suspension bridge that is very near to the Punakha Dzong.It is the longest suspension bridge in Bhutan and is built on the Pho Chu river. It swings pretty well when the winds are strong and that can give a panic attack to any tourist.

Suspension Bridge

Suspension Bridge

Suspension Bridge

We had our lunch at Lingar Hotel. They took a lot of time to serve us but the food was amazing. Their food items had a good mix of Bhutanese and Indian (strictly speaking Bengali) spread.

Next we headed towards the Chimi Lhakhang Monastery. This monastery is famous because of a Bhutanese divine madman who used unconventional teaching methods to create awareness on Buddhist teachings . As per legend, women used to seek blessings from the divine madman named Drupka Kunley in form of sex. He wanted to spread the message that a pure monks life can be lead even by not following celibacy. He is also referred to as the 'fertility saint' and he was the one who introduced the phallus painting as a religious symbol to ward of evil.Our car went through the small Chimi Lhakhang village. There are not too many houses in the village but all have paintings of phallus on their walls. There are shops selling wooden phallus souvenirs.

To reach the Chimi Lhakhang Monastery we had to trek a little. The monastery is pretty simple and has a big prayer wheel at the entrance. There is also a small ground where there are benches for visitors to sit and relax. The place is also very windy. Far away we could see the vast green fields and the hills.

Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang village

Chimi Lhakhang

Short trek to Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang

Layers in agriculture at Chimi Lhakhang

Chimi Lhakhang village

Wooden handicrafts shops

Paintings of holy phallus on walls of houses

Paintings of holy phallus on walls of houses

Chimi Lakhang

On the way back we crossed the Dochulla Pass once more but did not stop since we took the same road in the morning. Just before entering Thimpu we saw the Simtokha Dzong but we did not enter. It is a small dzong and currently it is the Dzongkha ( the national language of Bhutan )language learning institute.

Simtokha Dzong

On the way we stopped at a good vantage point from where the city of Thimpu looked magical in the evening sun light. We reached hotel and called it a day.

Thimpu while returning back

Thimpu city from a view point

We kept aside the next day in Thimpu for relaxing and shopping. We wanted to absorb the vibes of Thimpu by just being in Thimpu and doing nothing. Sometimes that is so energizing.

Do watch our vlog on Punakha. Do LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and SHARE to show us that you love.

Important Information:
Places we covered in the same day tour to Punakha and back
1)Dochulla Pass
2)Druk Wangyal Lhakhang
3) Punakha Dzong
4) Chimi Lhakhang
5) Lobesa Village
6) Simtokha Monastery

About Us

I am Ankur(the husband) and I am Soma(the wife) and this is a set of blogs from our travel experiences.
Apart from travel and blogging we are passionate about photography and food. We can be reached at wewritetoo@gmail.com